Projects

For Immediate Release         Contact:  Christine Carrino, 312.742.1148 

April 19, 2010          This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  

                 Benjamin Kelner, 312.744.8948 

           This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  

LAS GUITARRAS DE ESPAÑA 

Thursday, May 13, 2010, at 6:30 pm 

at the Chicago Cultural Center 

Chicago’s top-notch flamenco ensemble debuts “Music and Movement”  

in free “Under the Dome” concert at the Chicago Cultural Center 

Accompanying dancers will perform flamenco, modern, and West African dance 

As part of the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs’ Chicago Under the Dome Series, flamenco 

favorites Las Guitarras de España performs a rare free concert at the Claudia Cassidy Theater in the 

Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington Street, on Thursday, May 13, 2010, at 6:30 pm.  Admission 

is free and seating is first come, first seated. 

Las Guitarras de España is a world music ensemble with a Spanish guitar twist.  They perform a 

fusion of Cuban, son, rumba, R&B, Latin-jazz, blues, and African percussion with an underlying 

flamenco music and dance focus.  From the start, the ensemble has presented traditional Spanish 

guitar music and flamenco forms in collaboration with music and musicians from other genres and 

cultures.  

In their debut work “Music and Movement”, Las Guitarras de España presents the melodic 

compositions of Albeniz, Granados, Tarrega, and Satie combined with flamenco rhythms and other 

musical genres including jazz, West African blues, electronica, and rock grooves to invite dance 

interpretations.  The group will be joined in performance by modern dancer Nadine Lollino, flamenco 

dancer Wendy Clinard, Afro-fusion dancer Kevin Dirckson, and Senegalese dancer Idy Ciss.  Guest 

appearances will also include vocalists Satya Gummuluri (Indian/jazz) and Gerald McClendon 

(soul/blues); percussionists John Knect and Bob Garrett (Anne Harris/Lion King tour); violinist Steve 

Gibons; bassist Greg Nergaard; and gamelan musicians from Indonesian Dance Illinois. 

Las Guitarras de España formed in 1999 when guitarist Carlo Basile organized a “Flamenco Night” 

performance at Martyr’s and then at the Hothouse in Chicago.  These successful evenings produced 

collaborations with many fine musicians and dancers from throughout Chicago and resulted in Carlo 

Basile, David Gonzalez, and Patricia Ortega composing new Spanish and flamenco music for the 

group’s first CD.  Today, with four albums recorded, the ensemble has traveled the world infusing Afro- 

Cuban percussion, Latin American forms, Middle Eastern grooves, and Classical Indian music into their 

traditional Spanish repertoire.   

The current core lineup of features Patricia Alonso (vocals), Wendy Clinard (flamenco dancer), and 

Carlo Basile (guitar), but the ensemble is frequently joined by additional musicians and dancers.  Las 

Guitarras de España’s four recorded albums are “Donde Esta’ Paco?” (2000), “Ida y Vuelta” (2002), 

“Un Respiro por el Mundo” (2004), and “Cuatro por Arriba” (2007).  More information on Las Guitarras 

de España at www. theguitarsofspain.com.    

Chicago Under the Dome: Las Guitarras de España /Page 2 

CHICAGO UNDER THE DOME 

Chicago Under the Dome features Chicago artists of all ages and musical backgrounds – often pairing 

performers together for the first time – under the magnificent Tiffany dome in Preston Bradley Hall of 

the Chicago Cultural Center. Wine and local beer will be available for sale at this cabaret-style series 

and early arrival is suggested. This event is made possible with generous support from the Goose 

Island Beer Company. 

The series will be on hiatus for the summer, resuming September 9, 2010. 

CHICAGO CULTURAL CENTER  

Originally built in 1897 as the Chicago’s first central public library, the Chicago Cultural Center was 

established in 1991 as the nation's first and most comprehensive free municipal cultural venue by the 

City’s Department of Cultural Affairs. Drawn by its beauty and abundant free public events, hundreds of 

thousands of visitors come to the Chicago Cultural Center every year, making it one of the most visited 

attractions in Chicago. The stunning landmark building is home to two magnificent stained-glass 

domes, as well as free music, dance and theater events, films, lectures, art exhibitions and family 

events. Visit www.chicagoculturalcenter.org or call 312.744.6630 for a complete schedule of events.  

-###- 

CHICAGO—Tucked away in the shadow of Chicago’s Wrigley Field, above a convenience store and restaurant, is a little venue known as Links Hall. There I saw a recital called Music and Movement, by Las Guitarras de Espana. We traveled to Spain, India, Bali, and Africa through music and dance (Flamenco, Modern, Afro-fusion, and African) in a one-hour presentation that could easily be expanded to a full show. Director Carlo Basile presented a union of melody and groove with music of the American blues, jazz and rock, and Flamenco rhythms, along with some great Spanish composers, all fused together by marvelous musicians, vocalists, and dancers.

The Flamenco by Wendy Clinard captivated as she used her shawl as a matador's cape. Nadine Lollino's modern dance, hauntingly beautiful as well as inspiring, moved to the works of Satie and Pink Floyd. The movement of Kevin Dirckson (Afro-Fusion) and Idy Ciss (African) was rousing, with Ciss doing some explosive moves while accompanied by percussionists Bob Garrett and Doug Brush. Gerald McClendon and Satya Gummuluri provided the vocals, as well as Morikeba Kouyate, who also plays a mean kora (a West African harp). Greg Nergaard on the bass, Steve Gibbons on the violin and Carlo Basile on the guitar rounded out the ensemble, each a specialist and each blending perfectly to make this a production solid in every way.

Yes, the room is small and the lighting not the best (Justin Wardell does the most with the least equipment), but despite the intimacy of the Links Hall venue and the roaring of the "El" just yards away, we were treated to an experience that allowed each audience member to walk away with a warm feeling. We witnessed a production that appealed to all types of audiences and offered pure pleasure in both sound and feeling. Basile plans to expand the show and hopes to bring it to a larger venue. I, for one, will keep my eyes open for the expansion. This one hour of mixed cultures is beauty in the making.

Alan Bresloff writes about theater and entertainment in the Chicago area.

UNRAVELING RHYTHMS COLLABORATION WITH CLINARD DANCE THEATRE (2005, Remounted in 2009)

CHICAGO, IL  (May 28, 2005)--- Take one part Flamenco, add Classical Indian dance, with music by a famous Flamenco music ensemble, combine with unique visual art, and what do you get? Years of work, study, travel, collaboration, observation, and expression which culminate in the premiere of this groundbreaking hybrid of personal cultures, entitled UNRAVELING RHYTHMS.

 In 2004, just days after the tragic Tsunami, the innovators of this piece were invited to India to perform a segment of it to audiences in the cities of Hyderabad and Vishakhapatnam; the latter city which had suffered significant damage inspired the last portion of the completed UNRAVELING RHYTHMS, which Chicago area audiences will be able to enjoy at various venues this Fall. The ensemble is also proud to announce that they have been invited to perform this work in Tokyo, Japan in March, 2006 at the prestigious Aoyama Theater.

 In a presentation that transcends what audiences have come to expect from traditional dance, Wendy Clinard* partners with Siri Sonty** to present UNRAVELING RHYTHMS, an innovative and creative look at the dance forms, cultures, and distinct personal heritages of these two female Chicago artists.

 This unusual collaboration began in 2000, when Sonty decided to investigate the Chicago flamenco dance scene after recognizing a strong familiarity of sounds, movement, music and emotion between Flamenco and Indian dance on a trip to Seville, Spain.  After finding the Clinard Dance Theater (www.clinardance.org), Sonty began to experiment with Clinard, putting their forms of dance together, allowing them to contrast and complement each other. Says Clinard, " We interwove the movements of our dance forms, and working within these forms found different turns, jumps, falls, and walks that responded to each other, and gave them a context in the piece. We never actually learned each other's movements, which is why UNRAVELING RHYTHMS is a hybrid of sorts, not a typical fusion piece." Adds Sonty, "I see this work as a dance-visual conversation that exemplifies the universality of the language of movement and the bringing together of cultures."

 In 2003, while Clinard and Sonty were busy developing their unusual form of artistic expression, Guitarist Carlo Basile of Las Guitarras de Espana/The Guitars of Spain a seven piece ensemble which performs Spanish guitar influenced by Latin American and Middle Eastern styles as well as American Jazz, backed by Afro-Cuban percussion forms), which regularly collaborates with Clinard, was commissioned by her to travel to India to study its musical traditions, a trip which resulted in Basile creating a large piece specifically for UNRAVELING RHYTHMS. The ensemble's new CD, Un Respiro por El Mundo (A Breath By The World) /Sweet Pickle Music, has been called "….innovative and delicious" by WBEZ-FM, Chicago Public Radio, and music and dance from this CD will be featured throughout UNRAVELING RHYTHMS.

 Drawing on Clinard's background as a visual artist (BFA from the Art Institute of Chicago), and Sonty's affinity for Indian sculpture, a Chicago video artist, Teresa Parkes, has documented a series of line-ink paintings by artist Jeff Abbey Maldonado of UNRAVELING RHYTHMS; the video of these artworks serve as transitions between sections of the work.

UNRAVELING RHYTHMS culminates in 300,000 (the estimated number of lives lost in the 2004 Tsunami according to a report by the United Nations) ink dots amassing, which shatter off of a projected screen onto the dancers, leaving nothing but whiteness behind ---signifying the enormity of the Tsunami losses and the burden carried on by the living.

 "With guest artists from Spain, India, and the Americas joining us throughout the concert series, the program will be evolving as we go along, and no two audiences will see quite the same performance," says Basile.

UNRAVELING RHYTHMS: Unraveling boundaries and interweaving traditional, personal, and artistic cultures. A performance for all ages, 90 minutes

DANCE

Beat that breaks down barriers

Clinard mixes Indian, flamenco

By Lucia Mauro

Special to the Tribune Published September 9, 2005

There are no global barriers at the Clinard Dance Theatre studio in Pilsen.

Founder Wendy Clinard, whose company specializes in contemporary flamenco dance, rehearses a duet with classical Indian dancer Siri Sonty. Flamenco guitarists, percussionists, a sitar player, other musicians and vocalists crowd around the studio's narrow perimeter. The dancers' sultry curls of the wrist, complex foot stomps, and swirling saris and shawls merge into a vigorous statement of cultural unity.

They are preparing for a multimedia concert series, "Unraveling Rhythms," which kicks off Saturday at the Old Town School of Folk Music and continues in venues throughout Chicago.

Though Sonty teamed up (in 2003) with Clinard to create work that highlighted the similarities between their dance forms, "Unraveling Rhythms," is not a typical fusion affair. Instead, the two execute their own dances together, responding to each other's body language.

Sonty, 28, a professional Indian dancer and medical student at Northwestern University, says, "I see this work as a dance-visual conversation that exemplifies the universality of the language of movement. In dance and music, as with politics, it makes sense to increase the dialogue."

Flamenco and Indian dance, in fact, evolved through the influences of many cultures, such as the Gypsies and Moors, that migrated across Europe and Southeast Asia.

And "Unraveling Rhythms" has continued to evolve, particularly after Sonty and Clinard performed in India after last year's tsunami, when they witnessed the devastation firsthand. Their piece titled "Departure" has been transformed into what Clinard, 34, calls "a meditation and call for acceptance of things beyond our control--it's not a memorial."

The performers also interact with a series of video-projected hieroglyphic-like sketches by local artist Jeff Abbey Maldonado. The visuals culminate in 300,000 ink dots (referring to the estimated lives lost during the tsunami), which jump off the screen and onto the dancers, then vanish. The visuals are key to Clinard, who was first drawn to flamenco while studying at the School of the Art Institute.

"How do we deal in general with the volume of death coming at us?" says Clinard. "These dots are like an entry point for the audience--an entry to that void. Confronting the tragedy, I believe, can be very freeing. It allows you to let go and accept your fate."

 The dancers work closely with the Chicago-based world-music ensemble Las Guitarras de Espana, headed by composer-guitarist Carlo Basile. The group, with classical flamenco guitar as its base, is influenced by Latin American, Afro-Cuban, Middle Eastern, Indian and American jazz music. Basile, 40, and his fellow musicians travel around the world to absorb related rhythms and mold them into a unique hybrid sound. Las Guitarras composed original music for the concert, featured on a CD titled "Un Respiro por El Mundo" on Sweet Pickle Music.

 Critics Choice in Reader 9/9/2005

UNRAVELING RHYTHMS Wendy Clinard is a flamenco dancer with a difference. In 2001 she created a piece for puppets and dancers about the nature of water, Shifting Landscapes . Now she looks at the intersection of flamenco and bharata natyam in Unraveling Rhythms, which she performs with classical Indian dancer Siri Sonty and modern dancer Orazio Giurdanella. Together Clinard and Sonty--dressed in traditional costumes, which include scarves and skirts for both--show there's a natural crossover between the two forms, in the stamping feet, intricate hand movements, low lunges, and general groundedness. But where the barefoot Indian dancer is covered with sequins, jewelry, and bells, the flamenco artist's costume is stripped down--except for her heeled shoes, which give her an almost masculine intensity. Circling or confronting each other, the two women seem to knit together their rhythms rather than unravel them. Las Guitarras de España accompany the piece, providing a blend of Spanish and Indian music, then perform songs from their new CD for the second half of this 90-minute program, accompanied by Clinard's traditional flamenco dancing. --Laura Molzahn